Just You and I
by Neverstop13
Summary: Why should her confidence be broken so easily by him at first, but then built stronger by him in the end? How can two boys break her so easily even when the Vespers are near with the Doom's Day device? How come that, even though he's never there, Ian's been standing next to her the whole entire time? It could end as the two of them. Completely Amian, rated T for minor cursing.


**Hello and Happy Friday! I'm sick and spending it writing this one-shot..I thought of it when walking down my street this morning to the bus stop. And so here it is. I figured that we've had too much of tweens in books who've made too many mistakes with love. Except for Amy- she still has a chance with Ian! I can feel it! **

**Anyways, I think Ian's had too much of it also. Especially with Evan (who I'm still skeptical of) and Jake (who, after a while, I just didn't like him anymore. He's still cool but...still.)**

**But alas, I do not own the 39 Clues or the Vespers. None of this is mine. **

* * *

Amy Cahill was absolutely frustrated to the point beyond sanity. Boys were and always will be so confusing these days. She had to get her mind off of the two before things got even worse for her. What with having to deal with the Vespers' Doom's Day device and stopping them, now was _not_ the time to be thrown off track.

She stormed out of the front door to Grace's Mansion and did the one thing that could cure her: walking. It was a proven fact from many people that walking helped get your mind off of things by actually thinking through. Plus, exercising was also proven to release endorphins to calm you down.

That's exactly what you need, she thought to herself, to be calm. You can't let boys be the ones to ruin you. Boys! She scoffed.

Amy found her knuckles relaxing as she opened her fists. The street and traffic was kind to her today and the sun was calm. It glowed against her cheeks, making them warm from the bitter wind. Although it was bitter, she welcomed it. The current of the air whipped her red hair across her forehead, covering her eyes.

It almost felt like invisible hands were playing with her hair, curling it around their fingers.

A cold weight settled on her heart. Her soft hands came back to fists and she stuffed them in her pockets of her crimson red leather jacket. The sweat on her palms rubbed off onto the black suede on the inside. Her boots clacked against the concrete.

The wind felt like he was playing with her hair again. The suede was as soft as his skin. The boots sounded like his laugh.

She laughed bitterly. Amy thought that she must've been hallucinating.

But there was that strange feeling of chucking her boots and jacket against a brick wall and setting a pack of rabid dogs on them to destroy them. He broke her heart; not just hers, but the heart of the Madrigals.

He betrayed them.

She could never forgive Evan, even if he died for her.

I think I would rather love to see him die, she thought. At least suffer a little bit.

Amy stopped in the middle of the street and looked down at her boots. With a moment's hesitation, she folded her leg up and slipped off her right boot….then the left. All that was left on her cold feet were a pair of black footie socks that were even slipping off the back of her heel.

Better than these, she thought as she nudged her arm up, gesturing to the boots. She was still nearby the mansion and she didn't want to lug them around everywhere. She set them on the side of the road, also peeling off her jacket. Her nicely fitted green t-shirt was underneath.

With one last glance at the lawn, she set off again. Amy was determined to get through this alone.

Her pace quickened as she was suddenly at the end of the street. She started down the next road, setting out into the beautiful landscape scenery.

Amy looked up at the trees, the naked trees whose leaves had already abandoned them from the winter; the leaves that were walking alongside her at that moment.

Amy heard them clicking against the concrete. She looked down to find them tumbling next to her. It reminded her of her other little crush. He was with her throughout the Vespers, always being at her side. It was obvious he liked her. But her and Jake as a couple; dating and supposed to be "in love"?

That would've been a disaster.

She could've done better with a cobra.

Kabra, Amy immediately corrected herself. But she was too concerned about her other thoughts. How had he gotten into her head? She hadn't even talked to him for….a while.

Amy thought it was kind of pleasant about the way he slipped into her thoughts. But she hated him. It was indescribable how she felt about him. He was slippery—easy to fall out of anyone's reach; especially hers. But even though he fell, she found it funny how he always came right back to her. He left once, in Korea, but he came back later, right? He wasn't completely gone. But then again, he was. He was quite distant since Isabel had her little….fiasco. She had barely talked to him, but the times that they had, they always made her grin, her cheeks flushing.

She kind of liked how he talked to her. It wasn't too hard and it wasn't too gentle. They showed their feelings through sarcasm, though it was the unhealthiest thing for a relationship.

Relationship, she asked herself. I mean, sure they had something in common, but they had already tried it and it didn't work out as well as she had wanted it to.

With their family kidnapped, Hamilton and Jonah running about, Sinead and Evan leaving from betrayal, and that Jake was probably gone now (she knew he would've never stayed), it was just her, Dan, Atticus, and Ian.

The thought struck her so hard she halted in the middle of the street again. She ignored the pain that was throbbing from her toe that had skidded across the concrete.

If they didn't get the hostages in time….

They would be the only ones left.

Her breath had been knocked out of her and the nature spirits around her had turned to something cruel. Amy was absolutely sick of the Vespers.

Then another thought hit her. Dan had drunken the serum. Who knows what could happen to him? The serum hadn't been tested. What if it was slowly ticking from him, and that he was so used to the potion that once the serum wears out, so will he?

Amy felt her stomach twisting and cringing. She didn't want to think any further about what might happen, but it kept rolling.

What about Atticus? Besides her, he would be devastated too. He would feel like he didn't try hard enough; he was a guardian. He was weak enough. He could just as easily be…eliminated.

Amy cut herself off when she thought of the word.

Eliminated.

That's what this whole fling with the Vespers had been about. Eliminating them all one by one until they're all gone.

She wouldn't allow herself to be eliminated. Amy was going to do something. She will stop this. She will give them a taste of their own medicine; they will be the ones being eliminated.

Starting with the last Vesper and slowly, but painfully, working their way up.

All the way up to Vesper One.

She wasn't sure how to feel about her dad being Vesper One. She was shocked, of course. But how? It made her wonder who her father really was. If he was that loving, caring figure she always knew, or…if he was just a figure—a cruel one who could hurt his own family. If he was choice number two, she would want to know why. And then he could suffer.

But she still wouldn't be there to watch it.

Her heart wrenched inside her skull, giving a hot aching at her temple. Her stomach wriggled as if it was trying to crawl out of her. Amy didn't feel right anymore. She looked at the sky. She knew the Doom's Day device was almost complete, destroying the world as she knew it. The world that was full of secrets and lies and defeats and broken creatures, but there were clues.

39 Clues, she immediately thought. The clues seemed to tug at her brain. It was like it was telling her something and that they had a dark connection with her.

Clues that could potentially kill or save the world. The world already looked as if it was suffering in doom.

Okay, Amy thought, now I know I'm going crazy.

A car horn honked behind her.

She looked over her shoulder and found a red van following behind her, trailing just a couple feet behind her. Behind the windshield, she could see Ian.

Amy instinctively rolled her eyes to cover how she truly felt. "Go away!" She screamed.

Ian poked his head out of the window, one arm hanging over the door, the other planted firmly on the wheel. "Oh, come on, love, and leave you out here all by yourself?!"

She turned on her heel, walking backwards. Amy could feel the blood from her foot oozing through her sock. "Maybe I want to be alone, Cobra! Have you ever thought about that?!"

"Now why would you want to be alone? It's not gonna do you any good to mope all by yourself. It's unhealthy, you know."

"I don't care!" she screamed and turned her back on him, walking faster. She thought he had left, but then found the car directly to her right, his smug expression staring back at her.

"Don't act like a two-year-old," he said gently.

"I'd rather be two years old again than be here!" She spat at him. The tears finally began to show up for work at her eyes.

Ian never liked seeing her cry. Before, he felt pride. When his mother was still around. But now he felt his insides tear into two. The only bright side was that it brought out the beautiful color in her eyes…Ian mentally slapped himself.

Amy continued, "I want to be with my parents! I want Dan to be the same little boy he used to be and that he'll actually talk! He'll dress up like ninjas and play video games and….and he won't be killed every time I turn my back! I want my old life back! I never asked for this!" the tears spilled down her cheeks, marking salty tracks and landing on her elegant collar bones.

Ian mentally slapped himself again. "You didn't ask for it but you answered for it." He said matter-of-factly.

Amy paused, pondering about it. She bit back a chuckle and shrieked at him, "You aren't helping, you know!"

A swift grin spread across Ian's face, brightening his features and creating lines at the ends of his eyes. He actually looked happy for once, Amy noted.

"Oh, come on. Don't lie—you know it made you feel just a little bit better."

Amy opened her mouth to say something, but snapped it shut again. She wasn't going to let him get to her again. She wanted to be alone and that was exactly what she was going to get. Amy walked faster, getting farther than the front of the car.

"Oh, come on, Amy. Don't be pissed with me." Ian said, pouting as he jerked the car forward to be next to her again.

"I thought you knew already," she said slyly. "I always am." A taunting smirked graced her lips.

Ian puckered his lips, his face screwing into a knot. "Ouch…that hurt, love."

"You'll survive." She replied and got ahead of the car again. Her mood was being set on fire again. The tears had dried, but she was beginning to lose it again. Amy could feel it.

Ian could see it. He knew to be careful or else he would be the one to suffer. His elbow was bent on the door, curling his fingers around his lips as he stared intently at her, every now and then glancing at the road.

"Hey," he said gently.

"What?" she snipped.

"You cause quite a scene back there." Was all Ian could come up with. He was disappointed that that was all he could search for, but it supposedly worked. She scoffed bitterly.

"Yeah, sure…while the two were biting their heads off, _I_ made the scene as I walked out of the room." Flashbacks of her ex-boyfriend and new crush yelling at each other, declaring who was the better man to protect her.

"Hey, you can't blame people for being in love with you, love." He said, raising a shoulder.

"They aren't in love." Amy didn't even bother the nickname; she actually really liked it. It was a sign that he was still there. "Not with me. It's just pity; something they think is love." The wind blew her hair sideways at her and she reached to put it behind her ear. "Why are you here anyways?"

Ian kept driving, keeping with her. "Well after you had left, their fight turned into snapping at each other, blaming the other for making you leave. It was hilarious watching them," laughter bubbled up inside of his chest. "They—when one would say that they were going to get you, the other would stop them and declare that they were!" He laughed out the last word, bursting into a fit of chuckles.

"I just _love_ how you find it _amusing_," Amy sneered sarcastically, but truth was, she could imagine them doing that and could even feel the giggle wanting to come out of her throat. But she held it down.

He sighed from laughing too much. "Ah…it's amusing how desperate they are for you, love."

Amy rolled her eyes as she shook her head.

Ian glanced sideways at her and he let go of his laughter. "Anyways, so it seemed like Dan was giving me a look, telling me to go get you while he would use his ninja powers on the two to break them up. Maybe even let them leave forever, who knows?"

Is that jealousy in his voice, Amy thought.

"But I obliged to doing so before he gave me the look. I think he's beginning to like me."

"At least he likes something," Amy mumbled under her breath.

The two stayed quiet for quite a while. Until Amy stopped. Ian slowly pushed on the breaks. Amy didn't look at him, she stared at the ground.

"Ian…" she said slowly. "What happens if we fail? What will happen if the world truly is destroyed and we live in terrorism for the rest of our lives?"

Ian stayed quiet for a while. "I think you should get in the car—"

She cut him off instantly. "Answer the question." Her voice was firm and cut through his ears like steel.

Ian didn't answer. "You shouldn't think like that, love. We aren't going to fail—"

Amy was tired of being told that. "For once, will someone just tell me the truth?!" She yelled exasperatedly, her head pointing toward the sky. She was in the position of defeat. "The Vespers have everything they need already! To control the world—that's what they've been doing this whole time! They've controlled our world! And guess what? They're all dying! They will die along with us!" She yelled.

Ian's heart broke. He thought so fondly of her, that she was strong and confident, and now to see that she's giving up? Giving up on her family? Giving up on him?

Amy walked faster and Ian didn't put the car back into gear. She had crossed the line this time. He jumped out of the car, all business now.

When Amy heard the car door open and shut, a pang of terror went through her. She could feel how intense he was even though he was still far behind him. Amy began to walk faster ahead, trying to get away from him.

"Amy, how am I supposed to know what's supposed to happen?!" He hollered.

The tears came back to her eyes. The way he talked to her now. She felt like she was alone again. Plus, he had called her by her real name and not love. Her heart began to break again. She pressed further, digging her heels into the gravel hoping that it hurt. But she couldn't feel it—her body was completely numb.

Until he caught her elbow. She whipped around, her palm ready to strike his cheek. But he caught her hand firmly and as he still held on, he lowered it so that it could no longer hurt him.

"What is wrong with you?!" He roared, his voice raw.

She began to sob. "Everything, supposedly! Now let go of me!" Amy tried to squirm out of his grasp.

But Ian held her. She needed to get a hold of herself. He was tired of her trying to be desperate and like she was the one in the ruins.

"You think you're the only one here?!" He yelled again. "Everyone else has had someone to lose and you think you've got it the hardest? We're trying our best here and those Vespers are simpletons! They don't know what's coming to them! But they've got our family! We may have not liked them before, but we sure as hell do now! Stop prancing around like you're the one who's got to be weeping! None of us should, in fact! Crying isn't going to bring back anyone and if you don't get your act together, we definitely will fail!"

Amy couldn't believe what he was saying. He had never talked to her like that before.

He let go of her hand. "You should be thankful that I'm even here right now! I wasn't even going to join your Madrigal group but then I heard you were going to be leader. You, the strong one. I knew you could be a leader for anything and when this Vesper problem dawned upon us, I knew you would be the first to crack them." Ian pointed a finger at her. His wrist had a bold watch buckled to it and his plain white t-shirt rose a little.

Amy looked at him in a way she knew she looked like a little kid.

"You lost faith," he spat at her. "Where'd you go? Oh that's right, you let a couple of weasel idiotic boys ruin you."

"No I didn't! I wasn't fine before them either! Neither Dan or I!"

"Really? Is that what you think? How well were you doing before you met what's-his-face? You were doing just fine!" He snapped, jealousy tripping into his words. "Is that how far you've fallen, love? That you would let them destroy you even though you were doing so well without John or Elton?"

Amy was puzzled for a second, but then snorted. "It's Jake and Evan." She corrected.

Ian arched an eyebrow. "You think I really care about their names?"

"I think you do in a way." She smirked at him.

He tilted his head at her, his cheeks flushing. "Oh really, love?"

Amy nodded.

"Well here's a tip for you: you shouldn't care about their names anymore either."

Amy frowned.

"Now get in the car," he said and walked away.

She stood her ground. "Why should I?"

"Because I've got your damn jacket and boots. You know, the ones you left on the side of the road." Ian said and he heaved himself into the van.

Amy stood numbly in front of the car, her hands hanging limply by her sides. She was torn between two decisions. But she did long for her shoes.

"Well what are you waiting for?!" He hollered.

Amy wasn't sure what to do. She wanted to get in the car, but she was still baffled about what he just told her. It made her rethink about her decisions. Did she really let herself come to this that she had to depend on boys?! It totally wasn't like her.

Oh God, she thought, now I'm sounding like a teenage girl.

But she was still broken. Something just wasn't complete now. She felt guilty, like she'd done something wrong.

Suddenly, there was a pair of arms around her. Amy looked up, her cheek rubbing against a chest and then tickling the crook of the neck. It was Ian. How had he gotten to her so quietly? She didn't know and she didn't care.

All she knew and cared about was that his arms were around her. He was embracing her which was exactly what she needed. Amy instantly wrapped her arms around him and they stayed in that position for a while.

Her own words echoed in her head: _Just him and I_.

That was when she knew that he was like all the elements of the nature. His hands were caressing her hair in that moment, his skin soft. He had been walking alongside her this whole time, bringing her back to reality. That was when she remembered that he had been by her side the whole time—from the very beginning.

She buried her face into him, holding him tighter.

"We're going to get through this, love," he said.

Amy mumbled something indistinctive into his shirt. She just nodded.

"You ready to go back?" He asked.

"Why?"

"To beat some Vesper ass."

She grinned. "Will they be gone?"

"Can't be sure of that one, love."

"Even if they are there, will it just be you and I?"

"What about Daniel?" Ian asked.

Amy didn't answer.

Ian nodded his head once. "Just you and I."

She let go of him and climbed into the car on the passenger's side. She didn't slip on her boots just yet, her feet were too sore to deal with that kind of agony. But she covered her shoulders with her jacket.

Ian got back behind the wheel and made a sharp U-turn and they made their way back to the mansion, now reformed and ready for anything.

* * *

**They're so cute. :3 She still likes him. You can tell from the way they talked to each other in the phone call in the last book. Sorry if I spoil. I'm ready for this next book to come out this month but then again, I think it's the last one and that's going to leave me crying. These two will get together! She already said she doesn't like Evan anymore and Jake's just because she had nobody else there with her to hug and he was the only attractive one around. Sorry Jake fans but it's the truth. I like him as a character, don't take me wrong, I just don't like him as a love interest for Amy. They don't have a passion like Ian and Amy do.**

**Sorry for ranting. Please tell me what you think:)**


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